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雷虛篇

盛夏之時,雷電迅疾,擊折樹木,壞敗室屋,時犯殺人。世俗以為“擊折樹木、壞敗室屋”者,天取龍;其“犯殺人”也,謂之〔有〕陰過,飲食人以不潔淨,天怒,擊而殺之。隆隆之聲,天怒之音,若人之呴籲矣。世無愚智,莫謂不然。推人道以論之,虛妄之言也。

夫雷之發動,一氣一聲也,折木壞屋亦犯殺人,犯殺人時亦折木壞屋。獨謂折木壞屋者,天取龍;犯殺人,罰陰過, 與取龍吉凶不同,並時共聲,非道也。

論者以為“隆隆”者,天怒呴籲之聲也。此便於罰過,不宜於取龍。罰過,天怒可也;取龍,龍何過而怒之?如龍神, 天取之,不宜怒。如龍有過,與人同罪,殺而已,何為取也?殺人,怒可也。取龍,龍何過而怒之?殺人不取;殺龍取之。人龍之罪何別?而其殺之何異?然則取龍之說既不可聽,罰過之言複不可從。 何以效之?

案雷之聲迅疾之時,人仆死於地,隆隆之聲臨人首上,故得殺人。審隆隆者天怒乎?怒用口之怒氣殺人也。口之怒氣,安能殺人? 人為雷所殺,詢其身體,若燔灼之狀也。如天用口怒,口怒生火乎?

且口著乎體,口之動與體俱。當擊折之時,聲著於地;其衰也,聲著於天。夫如是,聲著地之時,口至地,體亦宜然。 當雷迅疾之時,仰視天,不見天之下,不見天之下,則夫隆隆之聲者,非天怒也。

天之怒與人無異。人怒,身近人則聲疾,遠人則聲微。今天聲近,其體遠,非怒之實也。

且雷聲迅疾之時,聲東西或南北,如天怒體動,口東西南北,仰視天亦宜東西南北

。或曰:“天已東西南北矣,雲雨冥晦,人不能見耳。”夫千里不同風,百里不共雷。《易》曰:“震驚百里。”雷電之地, 〔雲〕雨晦冥,百里之外無雨之處,宜見天之東西南北也。口著於天,天宜隨口,口一移普天皆移,非獨雷雨之地,天隨口動也。

且所謂怒者,誰也?天神邪?蒼蒼之天也?如謂天神,神怒無聲;如謂蒼蒼之天,天者體不怒,怒用口。

且天地相與,夫婦也,其即民父母也。子有過,父怒,笞之致死,而母不哭乎?今天怒殺人,地宜哭之。獨聞天之怒,不聞地之哭。 如地不能哭,則天亦不能怒。

且有怒則有喜。人有陰過,亦有陰善。有陰過,天怒殺之;如有陰善,天亦宜以善賞之。隆隆之聲謂天之怒,如天之喜,亦哂然而笑。

人有喜怒,故謂天喜怒、推人以知天,知天本於人。如人不怒,則亦無緣謂天怒也。緣人以知天,宜盡人之性。人性怒則呴籲,喜則歌笑。比聞天之怒,希聞天之喜;比見天之罰,希見天之賞。豈天怒不喜,貪於罰,希於賞哉?何怒罰有效,喜賞無驗也?

且雷之擊也,“折木壞屋”,“時犯殺人”,以為天怒。時或徒雷,無所折敗,亦不殺人,天空怒乎?人君不空喜怒,喜怒必有賞罰。 無所罰而空怒, 是天妄也。妄則失威,非天行也。

政事之家,以寒溫之氣,為喜怒之候,人君喜即天溫,〔怒〕則天寒。雷電之日, 天必寒也。

高祖之先劉媼曾息大澤之陂,夢與神遇,此時雷電晦冥。天方施氣,宜喜之時也,何怒而雷?

如用擊折者為怒,不 擊折者為喜,則夫隆隆之聲,不宜同音。人怒喜異聲,天怒喜同音,與人乖異,則人何緣謂之天怒?

且“飲食人以不潔淨”,小過也。以至尊之身,親罰小過,非尊者之宜也。尊不親罰過,故王不親誅罪。天尊於王,親罰小過, 是天德劣於王也。

且天之用心,猶人之用意。人君罪惡,初聞之時,怒以非之;及其誅之,哀以憐之。故《論語》曰:“如得其情, 則哀憐而勿喜。”紂至惡也,武王將誅,哀而憐之。故《尚書》曰:“予惟率夷憐爾。”人君誅惡,憐而殺之;天之罰過,怒而擊之。是天少恩 而人多惠也。

說雨者以為天施氣。天施氣,氣渥為雨,故雨潤萬物,名曰澍。人不喜,不施恩。天不說,不降雨。謂雷,天怒;雨者,天喜也。 雷起常與雨俱,如論之言,天怒且喜也。人君賞罰不同日,天之怒喜不殊時,天人相違,賞罰乖也。且怒喜具形,亂也。惡人為亂,怒罰其過 ;罰之以亂,非天行也。

冬雷人謂之陽氣泄,春雷謂之陽氣發。夏雷不謂陽氣盛,謂之天怒,竟虛言也。

人在天地之間,物也。物,亦物也。物之飲食,天不能知。人之飲食,天獨知之。萬物於天,皆子也;父母於子,恩德一也。 豈為貴賢加意,賤愚不察乎?何其察人之明,省物之暗也!

犬豕食,人腐臭食之,天不殺也。如以人貴而獨禁之,則鼠洿人飲食,人不知,誤而食之,天不殺也。如天能原鼠,則亦能原人, 人誤以不潔淨飲食人,人不知而食之耳,豈故舉腐臭以予之哉?如故予之,人亦不肯食。

呂後斷戚夫人手,去其眼,置於廁中,以為人豕。呼人示之,人皆傷心;惠帝見之,疾臥不起。呂後故為,天不罰也。人誤不知,天輒殺之,不能原誤,失而責故,天治悖也。

夫人食不淨之物,口不知有其洿也;如食,已知之,名曰腸洿。戚夫人入廁,身體辱之,與洿何以別?腸之與體何以異?為腸不為體, 傷洿不病辱,非天意也。

且人聞人食不清之物,心平如故,觀戚夫人者,莫不傷心。人傷,天意悲矣。夫悲戚夫人則怨呂後,案呂後之崩,未必遇雷也。

道士劉春熒惑楚王英,使食不清。春死,未必遇雷也。

建初四年夏六月,雷擊殺會稽〔鄞〕專日食羊五頭皆死。夫羊何陰過,而雷殺之?

舟人洿溪上流,人飲下流,舟人不雷死。

天神之處天,猶王者之居也。王者居重關之內,則天之神宜在隱匿之中。王者居宮室之內,則天亦有太微、紫宮、軒轅、文昌之坐。

王者與人相遠,不知人之陰惡。天神在四宮之內,何能見人暗過?王者聞人進,以人知。天知人惡,亦宜因鬼。使天問過於鬼神,則其誅之,宜使鬼神。如使鬼神,則天怒,鬼神也,非天也。

且王斷刑以秋,天之殺用夏,此王者用刑違天時。奉天而行,其誅殺也,宜法象上天。天殺用夏,王誅以秋,天人相違 ,非奉天之義也。

或論曰:“飲食〔人〕不潔淨,天之大惡也。殺大惡,不須時。”王者大惡,謀反大逆無道也。天之大惡,飲食人不潔清。 天〔人〕所惡,小大不均等也。如小大同,王者宜法天,制飲食人不潔清之法為死刑也。聖王有天下,制刑不備此法,聖王闕略,有遺失也?

或論曰:“鬼神治陰,王者治陽。陰過暗昧,人不能覺,故使鬼神主之。” 曰:“陰過非一也,何不盡殺?案一過,非治陰之義也。

天怒不旋日,人怨不旋踵。人有陰過,或時有用冬,未必專用夏也。以冬過誤,不輒擊殺,遠至於夏,非不旋日之意也。

圖畫之工,圖雷之狀,累累如連鼓之形;又圖一人,若力士之容,謂之雷公,使之左手引連鼓,右手推椎,若擊之狀。 其意以為雷聲隆隆者,連鼓相扣擊之〔音〕也;其魄然若敝裂者,椎所擊之聲也;其殺人也,引連鼓相椎,並擊之矣。

世又信之,莫謂不然。如復原之,虛妄之象也。夫雷,非聲則氣也。聲與氣,安可推引而為連鼓之形乎?如審可推引, 則是物也。相扣而音鳴者,非鼓即鍾也。夫隆隆之聲,鼓與鍾邪?如審是也,鐘鼓不〔而〕空懸,須有筍虡,然後能安,然後能鳴。 今鐘鼓無所懸著,雷公之足,無所蹈履,安得而為雷?

或曰:“如此固為神。如必有所懸著,足有所履,然後而為雷,是與人等也,何以為神?”

曰:神者,恍惚無形,出入無門,上下無垠,故謂之神。今雷公有形,雷聲有器,安得為神?如無形,不得為之圖像; 如有形,不得謂之神。

謂之神龍升天,實事者謂之不然,以人時或見龍之形也。以其形見,故圖畫升龍之形也;以其可畫,故有不神之實。

難曰:“人亦見鬼之形,鬼複神乎?”曰:人時見鬼,有見雷公者乎?鬼名曰神,其行蹈地,與人相似。雷公頭不懸於天, 足不蹈於地,安能為雷公?

飛者皆有翼,物無翼而飛,謂仙人。畫仙人之形,為之作翼。如雷公與仙人同,宜複著翼。使雷公不飛,圖雷家言其飛, 非也;使實飛,不為著翼,又非也。夫如是,圖雷之家,畫雷之狀,皆虛妄也。

且說雷之家,謂雷,天怒呴籲也;圖雷之家,謂之雷公怒引連鼓也。審如說雷之家,則圖雷之家非;審如圖雷之家,則說雷之家誤。二家相違也,並而是之,無是非之分。無是非之分,故無是非之實。無以定疑論,故虛妄之論勝也。

《禮》曰:“刻尊為雷之形,一出一入,一屈一伸,為相校軫則鳴。”校軫之狀,鬱律壘之類也,此象類之矣。氣相校 軫分裂,則隆隆之聲,校軫之音也。魄然若{敝衣}裂者,氣射之聲也。氣射中人,人則死矣。

實說,雷者太陽之激氣也。何以明之?正月陽動,故正月始雷。五月陽盛,故五月雷迅。秋冬陽衰,故秋冬雷潛。盛夏之時, 太陽用事,陰氣乘之。陰陽分〔爭〕,則相校軫。校軫則激射。激射為毒,中人輒死,中木木折,中屋屋壞。人在木下屋間,偶中而死矣。何以驗之?

試以一鬥水灌冶鑄之火,氣激{敝衣}裂,若雷之音矣。或近之,必灼人體。天地為爐大矣,陽氣為火猛矣,雲雨為水多矣, 分爭激射,安得不迅?中傷人身,安得不死?

當冶工之消鐵也,以士為形,燥則鐵下,不則躍溢而射。射中人身,則皮膚灼剝。陽氣之熱,非直消鐵之烈也;陰氣激之,非直土泥之濕也;陽氣中人,非直灼剝之痛也。

夫雷,火也。〔火〕氣剡人,人不得無跡。如炙處狀似文字,人見之,謂天記書其過,以示百姓。是複虛妄也。

使人盡有過,天用雷殺人。殺人當彰其惡,以懲其後,明著其文字,不當暗昧。《圖》出於河,《書》出於洛。河圖、洛書, 天地所為,人讀知之。今雷死之書,亦天所為也,何故難知?

如以〔殪〕人皮不可書,魯惠公夫人仲子,甯武公女也,生而有文在掌,曰“為魯夫人”,文明可知,故仲子歸魯。 雷書不著,故難以懲後。夫如是,火剡之跡,非天所刻畫也。

或頗有而增其語,或無有而空生其言,虛妄之俗,好造怪奇。何以驗之?

雷者火也,以人中雷而死,即詢其身,中頭則鬚髮燒燋,中身則皮膚灼焚,臨其屍上聞火氣,一驗也。道術之家,以為雷燒石, 色赤,投於井中,石燋井寒,激聲大鳴,若雷之狀,二驗也。人傷於寒,寒氣入腹,腹中素溫,溫寒分爭,激氣雷鳴,三驗也。 當雷之時,電光時見大,若火之耀,四驗也。當雷之擊,時或燔人室屋,及地草木,五驗也。

夫論雷之為火有五驗,言雷為天怒無一效。然則雷為天怒,虛妄之言。

〔難〕曰:“《論語》雲:‘迅雷風烈必變。’《禮記》曰:‘有疾風迅雷甚雨則必變,雖夜必興,衣服、冠而坐。’懼天怒, 畏罰及己也。如雷不為天怒,其擊不為罰過,則君子何為為雷變動、朝服而正坐〔乎〕?”

曰:天之與人猶父子,有父為之變,子安能忽?故天變,己亦宜變,順天時,示己不違也。

人聞犬聲於外,莫不驚駭,竦身側耳以審聽之。況聞天變異常之聲,軒盍迅疾之音乎?

《論語》所指,《禮記》所謂,皆君子也。君子重慎,自知無過,如日月之蝕,無陰暗食人以不潔清之事, 內省不懼,何畏於雷?審如不畏雷,則其變動不足以效天怒。何則?不為己也。如審畏雷,亦不足以效罰陰過。何則?雷之所擊, 多無過之人。君子恐偶遇之,故恐懼變動。夫如是,君子變動,不能明雷為天怒,而反著雷之妄擊也。妄擊不罰過,故人畏之。如審罰過, 有過小人乃當懼耳,君子之人無為恐也。

宋王問唐鞅曰:“寡人所殺戮者眾矣,而群臣愈不畏,其故何也?”

唐鞅曰:“王之所罪,盡不善者也。罰不善,善者胡為畏?王欲群臣之畏也,不若毋辨其善與不善而時罪之, 斯群臣畏矣。”

宋王行其言,群臣畏懼,宋國大恐。夫宋王妄刑,故宋國大恐。懼雷電妄擊,故君子變動。君子變動,宋國大恐之類也。

Chapter XXII. On Thunder and Lightning (Lei-hsü).

In midsummer thunder and lightning rapidly following each other, split trees, demolish houses, and occasionally kill men. Common people are of opinion that, when the lightning strikes a tree, or demolishes a house, Heaven fetches a dragon, whereas, when a man is killed, they say that it is for his hidden faults. If in eating and drinking people use impure things, Heaven becomes angry, and strikes them dead. The deep rolling sound is the expression of Heaven's anger like the breathing and gasping of angry men. Every one, no matter whether intelligent or stupid, says so. But if we look into the matter, taking human nature as a basis, we find that all this is nonsense.

By a thunder-stroke one fluid is set in motion, and one sound produced. 1 A tree is hit, and a dwelling damaged, and at the same time a man may be killed. When a man is slain, a tree may be struck, and a house damaged also. But they assert that, when a tree is struck, and a house damaged, Heaven fetches a dragon, whereas, when it kills a man, it punishes him for his hidden guilt. In that case something inauspicious would clash with the auspicious fetching of the dragon. 2 That both things should happen at the same moment, and with the same sound, would not be proper.

It has been argued that the rolling is the sound of Heaven's growling. That would be appropriate for the punishment of the guilty, but out of place for fetching dragons. In meting out punishment, Heaven may be angry, but, when it fetches a dragon, what fault has it, that it should be irritated like that? Provided that the dragon be a spirit, then Heaven in fetching it, ought not to be angry. If, however, a dragon has faults, which are to be atoned for like those of man, Heaven would kill it, but why must it still fetch it? While destroying a man, Heaven may be in wrath, but, when it fetches a dragon, what wrong has the dragon done, that Heaven should be so enraged at it? Having smitten a man, Heaven does not fetch him. If under the same circumstances it does so with a dragon, what difference is there between human guilt and that of dragons? If both are put to death, where does a difference come in? We can no more accept the assertion that Heaven fetches dragons, than approve of the idea that the guilty meet with their dues for the following reasons:

When the thunder instantaneously follows upon the lightning, and a man falls to the ground dead, the rolling sound is close above his head, which brings about his death. But is the rolling really Heaven's anger? If so, in its wrath, it would kill a man by the angry breath of its mouth. But how can the angry breath of a mouth kill a man? On examining the body of a man, who has been struck by a thunderbolt, one discovers traces of burning. Provided that Heaven used its mouth in its anger, could its angry breath become fiery then?

Moreover, the mouth is connected with the body, and its movements must be the same as those of the body. When lightning strikes, the sound is on the earth, and, when the work of destruction is done, it is again in the sky. Now, the moment, when the sound is on the earth, the mouth must approach it, and the body do the same. But, if at a thunder-clap we look up to Heaven, we do not see it descending. Since we do not see it come down, the rolling sound cannot be the expression of Heaven's anger.

Heaven's anger cannot be different from that of man. When an angry person comes near anybody, his voice sounds loud, when he is for off, his voice seems low. Now, Heaven's voice is near, but its body far away. Therefore, anger is out of the question.

When the peals of thunder rapidly succeed one another, the sound may be in the East, the West, the North or the South. Provided that Heaven be angry and move its body, then, if its mouth is in an eastern, western, northern, or southern direction, looking up we ought to see Heaven in one of these directions likewise.

Some one might object that Heaven really was in one of these directions, but could not be seen by man owing to the obscurity, caused by the clouds and the rain. Yet over a distance of a thousand Li there are not the same winds, and within a hundred Li there is not the same tempest. As the Yiking has it:---"A hundred Li are frightened by the concussion." 3 The region where the thunderstorm is raging, is darkened by the thunder-clouds and the rain, but beyond a hundred Li, where no rain is falling, one ought to see Heaven moving eastward, westward, north- or southward. The mouth being joined to Heaven, Heaven must follow it. Whenever the mouth moves, the entire Heaven must shift its place also, and it is not only where the tempest rages, that Heaven follows the movements of its mouth.

And who is it, whom we believe to be angry? The Spirit of Heaven or the dark blue sky? If we say, the Spirit of Heaven, an angry spirit can give no sound, and, if we say, the dark blue sky, its body cannot become angry, for anger requires a mouth.

Heaven and Earth are like husband and wife, they are father and mother of mankind. Now, let a son have committed a fault, and his father in a fit of passion beat him to death, would not his mother weep for him? When Heaven in its wrath slays a man, Earth ought also to cry over him, but one only hears of Heaven's anger, and never of Earth's crying. If Earth cannot shed tears, Heaven cannot be angry either.

Furthermore, anger must have its counterpart in joy. Men have hidden faults, but they have also latent virtues. Hidden faults in a man call forth Heaven's anger, which prompts it to kill him, but in case of latent virtues Heaven ought also to requite him with good. If the rolling sound is regarded as an expression of Heaven's anger, Heaven, when pleased, ought to give a hearty laugh.

Men are pleased or angry, therefore the same is said of Heaven. We try to get a conception of Heaven by ascribing human qualities to it. The source of this knowledge of Heaven is man. If man would feel no anger, there is no reason either, why Heaven should. Since our knowledge of Heaven is derived from that of man, human nature in its entirety must be taken as basis. A man, when angry, breathes heavily, when pleased, he sings and laughs. We much less often hear of Heaven's joy, than of its anger, and much more seldom see it reward, than punish. Is Heaven always irritated and never content? Does it mete out punishment pretty freely, but is rather sparing of its rewards? How does its anger and vindictiveness become manifest, whereas there are no instances of its joy and liberality?

When lightning strikes, it hits a tree, damages a house, and eventually kills a man. This is looked upon as Heaven's anger. But not unfrequently a thunder-clap is without effect, causing no damage, and destroying no human life. Does Heaven in such a case indulge in useless anger? A sovereign's joy and anger are not in vain. Being pleased or angry, he will certainly reward or punish. Useless anger without punishment would be unbecoming in Heaven. Doing something unseeming, it would lose its dignity thereby. That is not Heaven's way.

The writers on government hold that cold and heat coincide with joy and anger. When the sovereign is pleased, ths weather is mild, when he is angry, it is cold. Then on the day of a thunderstorm the temperature ought to be cold.

Before Han Kao Tsu was born, Dame Liu4 while sleeping on the banks of a big pond had intercourse with a spirit in her dream. At that time there was thunder and lightning, and a great darkness. Heaven was just then emitting its fluid, and ought to have been pleased, 5 why was it irritated and thundering?

If striking and breaking is construed as a sign of Heaven's anger, and not striking or breaking as a sign of Heaven's joy, the rolling noise would not be appropriate in both cases. 6 Man expresses joy and anger by different sounds, if Heaven used the same sound for two different purposes, there would be a fundamental difference between him and man. From what circumstance then could we infer Heaven's anger?

To give other persons impure things to eat is a small offence. For Heaven to chastise such small offenders in person with its own most precious body, would be derogatory to its majesty. Exalted persons do not punish personally, therefore does the emperor not execute the criminals with his own hand. Heaven is more exalted than the emperor. If it punished small misdemeanours itself, its virtue would be inferior to that of the emperor.

Heaven's sentiments must be similar to man's feelings. When a prince punishes the wicked, he upon first hearing of their crime, becomes furious and condems them, but when it comes to taking their lives, he commiserates and pities them. Therefore the Analects say "When you have found out the truth, be grieved and pity them, and do not feel joy." 7Chou was utterly depraved, yet, when Wu Wang was going to put him to death, he deplored and pitied him. Thus in the Shuking he says:---"I commanded the wild tribes, but I am sorry for you." 8 A sovereign puts the bad to death, but with a feeling of commiseration, whereas Heaven in punishing misdemeanours, strikes people dead in its rage. Thus Heaven would be less merciful than man.

Rain is believed to be a fluid emitted by Heaven. Put forth by Heaven, it becomes moistened, and gives the rain. When the rain saturates everything, one speaks of timely showers. Unless he be in good humour, man does not show kindness, and unless it be pleased, Heaven does not pour down rain. If thunder be taken for an expression of Heaven's anger, then rain must be a sign of its joy. When there is thunder, it is always accompanied by rain. One must suppose, therefore, that Heaven is at the same time grumbling and laughing. A sovereign does not mete out rewards and punishments on the same day. Should Heaven's anger and joy coincide in time, Heaven and man would not be in harmony, and their ways of rewarding and punishing quite different. Moreover, anger and joy are both fitful. To fly into a fit of passion out of disgust at man's conduct, to punish him for his offence, and, in doing so, to be guided by passion, would be unwortly of Heaven.

Regarding a thunderstorm in winter, people assert that the Yang fluid has lost its force. When it thunders in spring, they say, it comes out, but when there is a tempest in summer, instead of owning that then the fluid has its greatest force, they speak of Heaven's anger. Of course that is nothing but idle talk.

Man is a creature between Heaven and Earth. Other creatures are likewise creatures. What other creatures eat and drink, Heaven does not know, and it should be aware of what man eats and drinks? All beings are to Heaven like children. The kindness and love of father and mother to all their children are the same. Why then does Heaven watch the nobler and more intelligent being so closely, but takes no heed of the humbler and less gifted ones? Why does it pry into all that man does, but ignores other creatures?

Dogs and pigs eat human excrements, yet Heaven does not kill them for that. Provided that Heaven restricts only man on account of his superiority, then, if rats contaminate his drink or food, and man unwittingly eat it by mistake, Heaven does not destroy the rats. If Heaven can pardon the rats, it can do the same for man. Man may by mistake give others impure things to eat, and those unaware of it, may eat them. But they will never offer rotten things on purpose. Should they do so, the others would not take them.

The Empress Lü Hou9 cut off Lady Ch`i's hands, tore out her eyes, and placed her in a privy as a human swine. Then she called people, and showed them her victim. All felt sick at heart. When the emperor Hui Ti saw her, he fell sick, and did not rise again. 10Lü Hou acted on purpose, but Heaven did not punish her. If on the other hand Heaven strikes people dead for a mere inadvertence without mercy or regard for the faults, its government is tyrannical.

When men eat something impure, they do not discover it by the taste. If they feel it, after having swallowed it, they call it a pollution of their bowels. When Lady Ch`i was put into the cess-pool, her whole body was disgracefully soiled, which is nothing else than impurity, for the body does not differ from the bowels. To care for the intestines, but disregard the body, to resent impurity, but not to feel the afore-mentioned horrible disgrace, would not be like Heaven.

The news that anybody has eaten something unclean does not disturb people's minds, whereas all that saw Lady Ch`i felt sick at heart. Man being hurt, Heaven must feel pity too. Commiserating Lady Ch`i, it must hate Lü Hou. Notwithstanding, when Lü Hou died, she was not struck by a thunderbolt.

The Taoist Liu Ch`un made a fool of the king of Ch`u, Ying, and caused him to eat some dirty stuff. Liu Ch`un died later on, but it needed no lightning to make him die.

In the 6th month of summer of the year 79 a.d.Chin Chuan of K`uei-chi11 was killed by lightning. Of the sheep which he used for his daily meals, five died together with him. What hidden faults had these animals, that the lightning killed them?

Boatmen sometimes pollute a stream up-river, while other people drink its water down-river. Yet the boatmen do not die by lightning.

The Spirit of Heaven dwells in heaven just as a king in his residence. A king lives behind many gates, therefore the Spirit of Heaven must stay in some secluded place likewise. As the king has his palaces and halls, Heaven also has the T`ai-wei, Tse-kung, Hsüan-yuan and Wên-ch`ang mansions. 12

A king being far away from men does not know their occult crimes. How could the Spirit of Heaven in his four palaces see the secret misdeeds of men? If a king hears of the faults of his subjects, he learns it through others. If Heaven becomes cognizant of the crimes of men, it must have it from its angels. In case the spirits are Heaven's informants as to crimes, it must also entrust the spirits with retributive justice. Such being the case, the so-called anger of Heaven is not that of Heaven, but of the spirits.

A king inflicts capital punishment in autumn, 13 Heaven kills in summer. Thus the king in meting out justice, does not observe the time of Heaven. As Heaven's anointed he should in executions also imitate the example of majestic Heaven. Heaven chooses summer for killing, whereas the king executes in autumn. Heaven and man are thus at variance, which would never do for Heaven's deputy.

Some people will argue that giving impure things to eat or drink is a great crime before Heaven, which in killing the culprit does not pay attention to time. 14 Great crimes in the eyes of kings are high-treason, rebellion, and lawlessness, whereas Heaven considers the offering of unclean things to others as food or drink as a serious offence. The crimes condemned by Heaven are of different gravity. Were the light and the serious ones all equally dealt with, the king would have to imitate Heaven's government, and put to death every one, who had given others unclean things to eat or drink. When the holy emperors were ruling, they had not such a penalty. That would mean that the holy emperors were remiss, and had forgotten this punishment. 15

It may be said that the ghosts have power over what is secret, and that a king's sway extends over what is public only. Secret faults are wrapt in darkness and invisible to man, therefore spirits must be employed to watch over them. I reply, there being not only one secret fault, why are not all the offenders put to death? To fix upon one single offence would not be a just retribution for hidden sins.

Heaven vents its anger, before the sun returns, and an outburst of human ire takes less than the time one needs to turn round upon one's heels. 16 However, secret crimes of men often become manifest in winter and not exclusively in summer. If he who misconducts himself in winter, is not struck by thunder forthwith, but must wait till summer, Heaven's wrath cannot be quicker than a revolution of the sun.

When painters represent the thunder, it is like so many joined drums, heaped together. They also paint a man having the semblance of an athlete and call him "the Thunderer" (Lei Kung). With his left hand they give him joined drums to pull, in his right hand he brandishes a hammer, as though he were going to strike. It means that the rolling sound of thunder is produced by the knocking together of the united drums, and that the sudden crashing noise is the blow of the hammer. When a man is killed, he is struck with the drums and the hammer at the same time.

People also believe in this, and nobody objects. But if we get at the bottom of it, we find that these pictures are pure fictions. Thunder is either a sound or a fluid. How can a sound or a fluid brandish a hammer, or pull drums, and have the shape of joined drums? If the thunder can really swing or pull these things, it must be a creature. That which, when knocked together, produces sounds, can be either a drum or a bell. Should the rolling sound be produced by drums or bells? In that case, bells and drums could not hang free in the air, they would require a frame with vertical and cross-beams. Suspended between, they could be sounded. Now, the bells and drums have nothing to hang upon, and the feet of the Thunderer nothing to walk upon, how then should the thunder be produced?

Somebody might object that for this very reason there must be a spirit, for, if in order to produce thunder a frame were required, or a support for the feet, it would be quite human, and by no means spirit-like.

I hold that spirits are diffuse and incorporeal. Departing or coming in they need no aperture, nor have they any hold above or below. Therefore one calls them spirits. Now the Thunderer has a body, and for the thunder there are instruments, how can he be deemed a spirit? If the Thunderer were incorporeal, his semblance could not be drawn, and, if he possesses a body, he does not deserve the name of a spirit.

People talk of the dragon spirit rising to heaven. But whoever thoroughly examines the question, discredits this idea. Men sometimes see the shape of a dragon, and owing to this circumstance they paint the shape of a dragon rising to heaven. The best proof that, as a fact, there is no spirit is, that it can be pictorially represented.

My opponents will argue: "Men also see apparitions of ghosts. Are they not spirits?" I say: "If men see ghosts sometimes, has anybody already seen the Thunderer? Ghosts are called spirits, but they walk about on earth like men. The Thunderer, however, does not rest his head in heaven, nor walk on earth with his feet. How can he, therefore, be a thunderer?"

All flying creatures have wings. Those who can fly without wings are styled genii. In representing the forms of genii men give them wings. Provided the Thunderer is like the genii, he ought to have wings equally. If, in case the Thunderer does not fly, the painters pretend that he can fly, they are wrong, and if he really could fly, but had no wings, it would be wrong likewise. Thus the pictures of the Thunderer's outward appearance, made by painters, are merely fancy work.

Those who argue about thunder aver that it is Heaven's angry snorting, whereas those who sketch it, contend that the Thunderer in his anger pulls the joined drums. If it is really as the critics say, the painters are wrong, and if they are right, the critics must be in error. The two classes are antagonistic. If both their views were taken as genuine, there would he no difference of right and wrong, and in default of that, no real right and wrong. Doubts would not be settled, and fallacies would triumph.

The Liki speaks of a goblet with the thunder carved upon it. 17 One thunder rushes forth, the other reverts, one is coiled up, the other stretched forth. Their friction would give a sound. They look as if they were colliding, piled up in a grotesque and phantastic way. This form represents the thunder. When through friction the air breaks, there is a rolling sound, the sound of friction. A sudden crash is the sound of the shooting forth of the air. When this shooting air hits a man, he dies.

In fact thunder is nothing else than the exploding solar fluid. How do we know?---In the first month the Yang fluid begins to be roused, consequently we have the first thunder during the first moon. In the fifth month Yang is at its cynosure, therefore at that time thunder rapidly follows upon thunder. In autumn and winter Yang declines, therefore thunder ceases during these seasons. In the midst of summer the sun reigns supreme, but the Yin fluid endeavours to get the upperhand. In this dispute of the Y-ang and the Yin fluids it comes to frictions, and these frictions lead to explosions and shooting, which are destructive. A man struck by these forces is killed, a tree split, and a house demolished. A person under a tree or in a house may also by chance be hit and killed.

To test the justness of this statement take a basin full of water, and throw it on a fire, used for melting purposes. The vapour will explode with a puff like the sound of thunder. Should any one be too near, his body will be burned. Heaven and earth are like a great furnace, the Yang fluid is an immense fire, clouds and rain are huge masses of water. When they struggle, explode and shoot, the effects must be most violent, and a man hit and injured cannot but die.

When founders melt iron, they make a mould of earth, into which the liquid iron runs down. Else it bursts out, flows over, and spurts. Hitting a man's body, it burns his skin. The fiery Yang fluid is not only as hot as liquid iron, the exploding Yin fluid has not merely the wetness of earth and clay, und when the Yang fluid hits a man, it does not simply cause the pain of burning.

Thunder is fire. A man burned by this fluid must show traces of it. If those traces of burning look like written characters, people seeing them use to say that Heaven has written the man's guilt to make it known to the whole world. This is also unreasonable.

If Heaven destroys men with its thunder, after they have perpetrated their misdeeds, he ought to make their wickedness quite public, with a view to frightening for the future, and write the characters clearly, but not quite indistinctly, as it does. When the "Plan" came out of the Yellow River, 18 and the "Scroll" emerged from the Lo,19 Heaven and Earth produced them for men to read and take note of. The writing on people killed by thunder is also Heaven's work. Why is it so difficult to understand?

Let us assume that the human skin is not fit to be written upon. The wife of Duke Hui of Lu,20Ch`ung Tse was daughter to Duke Wu of Sung.21 When she was born, she had a writing on her palm to the effect that she was to be duchess of Lu. The writing was distinct and intelligible. Therefore Ch`ung Tse was married to Lu. The thunder's handwriting not being clear, it cannot serve as a deterrent for the future. Ergo the burnt spots are not characters engraved by Heaven.

Sometimes people exaggerate things that really exist, sometimes they invent things that have no real basis at all. Imposed upon by fallacies, they indulge in fabricating wonders and miracles as the following arguments will prove:---

1. Thunder is fire. When a man dies struck by thunder, one discovers upon examining his body, if the head be hit, that the hair is singed, and if the body be struck, that the skin is charred. Coming near the body, one scents the smell of burning. 2. Taoist experimentalists hold that a stone heated by a thunder-clap, becomes red. If it be thrown into a well, the stone being burning hot, the well cool, an explosion ensues with a loud detonation like thunder. 3. When somebody takes cold, the cold fluid enters his stomach. The stomach being as a rule warm within, the warmth and the cold struggle together, and the exploding air gives a thunder-like sound. 4. In a thunder-storm brilliant lightnings appear every now and then like the glares of big fires. 5. When the lightning strikes, it often burns man's houses and buildings, or grass and trees.

Those who declare thunder to be fire have these five arguments, those who prentend that thunder is Heaven's anger, not a single one. Therefore this latter assertion is without any foundation.

However, it might be objected that there is a passage in the Analects to the effect that, when thunder followed thunder, and the storm raged, Confucius used to be deeply impressed. 22 The Liki says, "when a strong wind blows, and the thunder-claps quickly follow each other, and rain falls in torrents, a superior man will be deeply moved. Though it be night, he will rise, don his clothes and cap, and sit up" 23 in awe of Heaven's anger, fearing lest its punishment should reach him. If thunder were not the expression of Heaven's anger, nor its striking a punishment of the guilty, why should a good man be frightened by thunder, put on his official robe, and sit straight?

The Master 24 means that the relation of Heaven to man is similar to that of father and son. The father being moved, the son cannot remain indifferent. Therefore, when Heaven is moved, man must be likewise. Being in harmony with Heaven, he proves that he does not act in opposition to it.

Man suddenly hearing a dog bark outside the house, will be startled, and with trembling limbs harken to find out, what it means. How much more so, when he hears Heaven assuming an extraordinary voice like the noise made by the quick rolling of heavy carts!

The remark in the Analects and the observation of the Liki both refer to the wise man. The wise man displays the utmost care in all his doings and knows that he has no guilt, just like sun and moon, which, when eclipsed, have not clandestinely given impure food to men. Examining his heart, he feels no fear, wherefore should he be afraid of thunder? If he is not afraid, his excitement can be no proof of Heaven's anger, because he fears nothing for himself. Should he really be afraid of thunder, even that would not suffice to prove the punishment of hidden crimes, for people struck by lightning are mostly quite innocent. The wise man apprehends that he might be hit by chance. Therefore he is anxious and alarmed. But this alarm of the wise man cannot be put forward to demonstrate that thunder is Heaven's anger. It shows, on the contrary, that thunder strikes at random. Because it hits at random, and does not punish the guilty, people are afraid. If thunder actually punished the guilty, the wicked ought to stand in awe, and the wise had no cause for apprehensions.

The king of Sung asked T`ang Yang saying "I have killed a great number of people, yet all the officials are still quite fearless. What is the reason?"

T`ang Yang replied:---"Those that Your Highness has punished were exclusively bad characters. If the bad are called to account, why should the good be frightened? If Your Highness wishes all the officials to be in awe, the best way is to make no distinction between good and bad, and chastise them all occasionally. Then all the officialdom will be afraid." 25

The king followed his advice, and all the functionaries became frightened, whereupon the king of Sung turned very angry. Owing to the indiscriminate punishments of the king of Sung, the whole people of Sung got greatly alarmed. Because thunder and lightning strike indiscriminately, a wise man becomes agitated. His alarm is like the great fright of the kingdom of Sung.

Notes

1. The same force destroys the tree, the house, and the man.

2. The dragon is accounted a sacred animal.

3. Yiking Book V, Chên Hexagram (No. 51).

4. The mother of the emperor Kao Tsu. Cf. p. 177.

5. Heaven as a spirit was just then engendering Han Kao Tsu, the Son of Heaven.

6. In the case of joy as well as of anger.

7. Analects XIX, 19. The criminal judge Yang Fu having consulted the philosopher Tsêng Tse on the duties of his office, the latter advised him to pity the offenders, whose misdeeds were perhaps a consequence of bad administration.

8. This passage is not to be found in our text of the Shuking.

9. The first wife of Han Kao Tsu, who usurped the imperial power, and reigned under her own name against all custom from 187-179 b.c. Her son, the Emperor Hui Ti, whose nominal reign lasted from 194-187 b.c., was nothing but a puppet in her hands. Lü Hou was a fiend in human shape, who had always some poison ready for her enemies. One of her first acts, after she came to power, was to wreak her vengeance on her rival, Lady Ch`i, a concubine of Han Kao Tsu, who had attempted to have her own son made heir-apparent in place of Hui Ti, the son of Lü Hou. Hui Ti, a very kind-hearted, but weak sovereign did all in his power to shield his half-brother from the wrath of his mother, who poisoned him all the same.

10. This story is abridged from the Shi-chi chap. 9, p. 3.

11. A city in Chekiang.

12. Names of constellations.

13. In China the regular executions take place in autumn.

14. It destroys the guilty on the spot, and does not delay judgment until autumn.

15. A deduclio ad absurdum from a Chinese point of view, for the holy emperors, Yao, Shun, and the like, were perfect, and could not have omitted to punish serious misdeeds.

16. This seems to be an old adage.

17. Neither the Liki nor the Chou-li contains such a passage, as far as I could make out. On the old sacrificial bronze vases, called tsun = goblets, clouds and thunders i. e. coiled up clouds were represented. The thunder ornament is the Chinese Meander. Specimens of these goblets can be seen in the Po-ku-t`u-lu chap. 7.

18. The "Plan" appeared to the Emperor Huang Ti in the Yellow River. A big fish carried it on its back. Huang Ti received the Plan, which consisted of a combination of symbolical lines and diagrams like the Pa-kua.

19. The "Scroll" was carried by a dragon-horse, which rose from the waters of the Lo, a tributary of the Yellow River, at Fu Hsi's time. From the mystic signs on this "Scroll" the emperor is reported to have derived the Eight Diagrams and the first system of written characters, which took the place of the knotted cords, quipos, then in use.

20. 767-721 b.c.

21. 764-746 b.c.

22. Quoted from Analects X, 16.

23. Quoted from the Liki Book VI Yü-tsao (Legge, Sacred Books Vol. XXVIII, p. 5).

24. Confucius in the passage quoted from the Analects.

25. Quoted from Hsün Tse.

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IATHPublished by The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, © Copyright 2003 by Anne Kinney and the University of Virginia